Laundry flat piece spreader and rack



Oct. 13, 1931. 1.. R. SAGER LAUNDRY FLAT PIECE SPREADER AND RACK 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 2, 1929 Q J j eii? Oct. 13, 1931. L. R. SAGER 1,827,335

LAUNDRY FLAT PIECE SPREADER AND RACK Filed Jan. 2, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l 6615 Sqger Oct. 13, 1931. R. SAGER 1,827,336

LAUNDRY FLAT PIECE SPREADER AND RACK Filed Jan 2, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented oer. 13, 19317 LEE n; seenit, on vnmmsoms, MiNivEsoTA, 'nss'IenoaBY mm Ann musn'njns sreignvrnnms, OF oN -TnIRnmo'nNToNn WAYNE'JULI N. or MINNEAPOLISVMINNET SOTA, ANDONE-IHIRD ro MERTON A. POCOCK, OF MINNEAPOLIS, INNEso'rAfi mummy. risen SPREADER AND BACK j Application. me 'Jahe aiy 2, 1929. "s rial no. 329,822. I I

My present inv'entionhas for its object the provision of a relatively simple'and highly efficient laundryflat piecespreader and rack for use in connection with a flat piece ironer.

As is well known, fiat pieces particularly sheets, spreads and the; like as they-are received from a wringerare loosely bunchedor. rolled, deposited in a basket andcarried to a flat piece ironer. These pieces as they are" removed from the basket have tobe shaken so that they may be.

to spread the'same out I V fed. fiatto the ironer.v This shaking of the pieces not w: only takes considerable time and workvbut materially reducesthe-life thereof;

By the use of my spreader and rack'pieces as they are successively removed from a;

basket, in which they are depositedfroni the wringer, are drawn, either manually or inechanzcally, over thte spreader to smooth. the

out and positionuthe same over the:

pieces 5 rack on which they are deposited, theone upon the other in afpile. 1 The improved rack, which is portable, may.

be conveniently positioned and loaded as the pieces are receivedvfroin the wringer and thereafter transported toythe ironer and the rack so positioned in pieces may be quickly fed' therefrom to the ironer with undue eifortonthep-art of the operators. The 'rackQwh'ich is adjustable,

may be set in one position to receive the pieces from the spreader, and thereafter beadjusted so that said. rackmay 'be -tclosel-yv positioned in respect to the ironer and the pile ofypieces' shifted thereon into a position in which they may betquickly and easily fed to the ironer and removed from the pile as they are being fed to, the ,ironer' without disturbing the underlying pieces. v

I Said inventionfurther' provides auxiliary and secondary spreaders for use in connect1on with the rackand a mechanicalifeeder' for drawing thepieces over the main spreader and depositing the same on the rack, aswill hereinafterappear.

To the above end, generally stated, the invention consists of the novel devicesand.com-- binations of devices hereinafter described and defined 111 the Cla1lIlS."

In the accompanying draw1ngs,-.which i1- respect thereto that said I Referring to thedrawingsz. Flg. -1 1s a'view principally in side eleva-. t1on showing the,1mproved spreader rack and carrier;

end of a fiat piece ironer;

lustrate the invention, like characters indi cate like parts throughoutthe several views.

parts sectioned, on the line 2+2 of;

.fFig. 4::is a View partly 1n elevation partly v r e VQITt Cal sedtiontaken'cn thialin'efll ofFig, 1, on an enlarged scale,v some parts being indicated ,by broken lines Fig.. 5 i'sa fragmentary viewwith some parts sectionedon the line 5 5 of Fig. 4,1on 3 an enlarged scaleg;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail view {with some parts sectioned on the line 6- 6 0f,Fig.{ 2, man enlarged scale;

Fig. 7 is an elevation of shown in Fig. 6; and,

Fig.5 8 isa fragmentary carrier and one of its clamps. 1 V 5 Y I Forthe purpose of showing the relative ar-:

certainofthe -parts i dtaiil iewbf V rangement of the laundry rack in respect to a flat piece ironer, there is diagrammatically illustrated in the drawings, such anfir'oner indicated as anentirety, by thejnumeral 10 with-the exceptionof thefeedribbons 11 at the receiving end thereof.-

.Referring now in detail to the improved. laundry rack which, as shown, includes a rectangular frame having four upright corner posts 12 connected in front and rear pa'irs,

by wide cross-tie members 13. Theposts 12 on one side of the rack are. connected. in pairs by an upper longitudinally; extended barl and the posts 12 on the other side of the rack.

are similarly connected by'a like bar 15;: I By reference to Figs. "4' and 5, it will be noted that the bar 14 is at a higher elevation than the bar 15, for a purpose that will'pre'sently appear. f Thesebars Hand 15 arerotatably mounted-in bearingson theposts 12 and held V by any suitable'means," not shown, agalnst en'dwise movements therein. The corner n posts-.12 are further and rigidly connected on g axes of'said bars.

bers 20 and 21 extend parallel to the bars 14' each side of the rack by lower and intermediate longitudinally extended bars 16. As illustrated, the posts 12 and bars 14, 15 and 16 are in the form of round tubes or pipes but, of course, the rackJmay be of anyother suit able construction.

The rack is made portable by mounting the.

same on wheels 17 journaled in brackets having, shanks 18 telescoped' into the lower ends of the posts 12. The elevationoi the'rack may be varied atwill, by raising the same on the shanks 18 and securing the posts 12 to said shanks by bolts 19, see Fig. 5, passed through aligned holesin said posts and any one of a plurality of vertically spaced transverse holes in the shanks 18, see Fig. 5.

Horizontal flat work supporting members 20 and 21 are carried by the bars 1 1 and 15 respectively for rotation therewith about the These supporting inemand 15 andthe former of said members has at its endslaterally projectingarms 22 mgidly secured by couplings 23 to tl e bar 14 for rotation therewith and the latter of said members is also provided at its ends with a pair of laterally projecting arms 2 rigidly secured by couplings 25 to the bar 15 for rotation therewith.

oi. the bars 1 1 and 15 with sufficient clearance to be rotated between the respective pairs of posts 12'. By reference to Figs. a and 5, it will be noted that the arms 22'areconsiderably shorter than the arms 2 1 and when said arms 22 and 24 are turned uprightthe two supporting members 20 and 21 are at the (xii same elevation due to the different elevations of the two bars 14 and 15. For independently rotating the bars 14- and '15 and hence the supporting members20 and 21 carried thereby, arhand crank 26 is applied to one of the ends of'each bar 1 1 and 15. The supporting members 20 and21' are independently held in different rotated positions by pairs of ratchet wheels 27 and'cooperatii'ig springpressed dogs 28. Said ratchet wheels 2? are mounted on the bushland-15 adjacent to the hand cranks 26 and the dogs 28 are mounted on the adjacent posts 12.

A-basket 29 is formed in the rack by attaching-the longitudinal edge portionsof a piece of canvas or othersuitable material to the bar 15 and thesupporting member-'20 and allowing said canvas to loosely hang within The supporting members. 20 and 21"extend substantially the full length spreader 30 is located above the supporting members 20 and 21 and spaced horizontally outward of the rack. The spreader 30 is detachably secured to the rack by forming on the ends-thereof supporting arms 31 which extend vertically downward therefrom, then horizontally toward each other transversely of the rack and then horizontally longitudinally of the rack in the planes of the sides thereof and through bores in upstanding lugs 32'onthe tops of the adjacent posts 12. Set screws 33 having threaded engagement with the lugs 32 impinged against the arms 31 and holdthe same in the lugs 32 with the main spreader 30 positioned, as best shown in Figs. 'and The main spreader 30 and its arms 31 are formed from a single rod but, of course, may be constructed in any suitable manner-and said spreader may take various different shapes.

Cooperating with the main spreader 30is an auxiliary spreader 34' in the form oi a horizontal member which extends transversely of'the rack and has at its ends arms 35 rigidly secured to said main spreader. This auxiliary spreader 3 1 is substantially mid way between the crown of the main spreader 30 andthe supporting members 20 and 21 when in their uppermost position and extends inward toward the rack and substan tially over the respective ends of the supporting members 20 and 21, see Figs. 4 and 5.

At each side of the rack is a secondary spreader 36 in the form of a horizontal member which extends parallel to the supporting members 20 and 21 and at substantially the same elevation thereof when said supporting members are in their uppermost positions. These secondary Spreaders 36 extend substantially the full length of the rack and have attheir ends depending arms 37 pivoted to bearings 38 on the posts 12. The bearings 38 are so arranged as to hold the secondary spreaders 36 and their arms 37 spaced'outward'from the sides of the rack. Coiled springs 39 attached to the spreader arms 37 and anchored tothe posts 12 yieldingly hold said secondary spreaders positioned, as shown in Fig. 4, with freedom for outward swingiugmovement from the rack.

F 01' simultaneously operating the secondary Spreaders 36 to swing the same outward and downward against the tension of the springs 39 there is provided a pedal 40 connectedby a pair of links L1 to short crank arms 42 on the pivoted ends of the arms 3?. The pedal lO'is mount-ed in a keeper bracket 43 on the cross-tie member 13 located under the main spreader 30. It is important to note that the arms of the secondary spreader 37 are removably mounted in sockets in their pivotal supports and rigidly held by set screws, see Figs. 4; and 5.

The rack, being portable, may be placed in any convenient location in a laundry while nszzsse the same is being loaded'with fiatzwork' as. the same is received from the wringer and then wheeled to the ironer 10;To load the rack with-fiat work, the basket, not shown;

containing the work from the..wringer is placed onthe' floor at theendxof the "raclr on which the'm'ain spreader3O is mounted; From this basket the piecesare-pickedup one at a time and heldat one end of the intermedi-v ate portion'thereof, and placed over the main spreader 30*with the body of the respective piece hanging down in the basket; With the piece thus held the operator walksbackward at one side of the rack and towardthe other.

end thereof to draw the piece over said spread,-

er., This'movement of the piece ,,over the main spreader spreads thesame out'fiat and causes the sides xthereof'to hang down at thesides of the spreader; y 1

. While the operator is l drawing the @icl over the main. spreader SOhe holds the intermediateportion thereof over the transverse center of the rack withthe sidesrof said'piece hanging down at the sides "of said rack; p The main spreader 30, during the dragging of a'damp piecethereover" produces a pull.

.' or tension-Ont said pieceand thus keeps the spect to the transverse width of the rack than.

, draw the intermediateportionofthe piecesame taut and freefrom wrinklesand creases.

Asthe piece passes .outofscontact with the.

main spreader-. 30 its rear end portipn comes into, contact with: the auxiliary spreader 3% and its arms 35 whichagain places the piece undera pull or tensionasthe same is drawn away from the mam spreadery30; f The auxll ary spreader 34 1s materiall'yzshorter 1n rethe main spreader 3Q andprevents the intermediate portionofthe piece as i-tJpasses out of engagement, with the crown *of :the main spreader 30 from fallingina bunch'on the; rack. By thusshortening, the width of the supported intermediate: portion of the piece, the relatively heavy side portions thereof draw said piece transversely taut as-it drops onto the rack. As thepiece is drawn out of contact withithe auxiliary spreader 34: it- 1 dropson to l the rack and at which timeithe operator releases theheld end of thepieceon to the rack. The weight'ofthe sides of the piece asthesame falls at thesideof the rack relatively smooth over the. rack.

' .7 The width of the main spreader d issuchas to cause the side portions of-thepiece to fall'outward of: sandj'over the secondary i spreaders 36. After a piece is deposited on the rack the operatorsteps on the pedal 40' to operate the secondaryspreaders 'As these secondary Spreaders 36 swine: down? ward under the action of'theipedal 40'- they engage the hanging side portions of the pieceand, are swept downward thereoverand place the-same under a pull or tension to draw the intermediate portion of the piece relatively taut over the rack and smooth, out any wrin- After the rack s.

klesorcreases in said side portions. At the limit .of the downward movement of the secondary'spreaders 36 the'endi portionsof the the springs 89 return the secondary Spreaders 36 to normal-position and outward of the, "last piece laid, or spread upon therack. The

above-operations of spreading and laying pieces on the rack are continued .until astack of piecesare spread upon the rack in a pile, 'as indicated by broken lines in indicated by the letter A'.

piece will swing inward over said spreaders andwhen the operator releases the pedal 40 i I Fig. 4: and

' Abasket or receptacle l lis placed on. the

floor at the opposite end of the rack from the [main spreader 30 tocatch any small piecessuch as napkins, pillow cases and the v like which might be carried with the larger pieces onv to the rack. These smallv pieces may be gathered out of the basket 44 andlaid flat upon the pile A.-

eral lots separated; s

30, auxiliary spreader 3i and secondary spreaders 36 are detached and removed from the rack and saidrack wheeled to the ironerv loaded-the main spreader l0. .Beforetheraekis placed'in a feeding position in respect tothe ironer 10, the oper} ator turns-the supporting memberfll into a depending position by means ofi't s crank 26, so 'as to lower the respective side of the rack and permit the same tobe positionedunder I the receiving endof the ironer 10, as showninFig. 3, This lowering movement o f'the, su'pporting member '21 which is clockwise feeds the intermediate portion of the pile A 7 into "therack and raises the respective side portion thereof for a purpose that will presently appear. necessary'to give the supporting member 21 more than a half turn in order to raise the res iiectiveside of the pile A tothe desired elevation; The operator then rotates the supporting member 20 by its hand crank 26 anti, clockwise to furtherfeed the interme- In some instances, it might be J diate portion of the pileA into the. rack to} raise the respectiveside thereof. At the completion of the operation of the supporting member 20 the operator returns said membervto' its uppermost position so as to v hold the respective side portion of the pile A raised, asshown by broken lines in Fig." 3.

After this rearrangement of the pileA on the rack the operator moves said rack under the receiving end of the ironer 10,as shown end of the rack and takeshold of the outer edge portions of the pieces and successively feeds the same into the ironer 10; V

Pin-Fir. 3. Y An operator then stands at each l n sf" I It will be noted that the arrangement of the pile A on the rack is such that the outer edge portions of the pieces are held in a raised and convenient position so that the operators may feed the same to vthe ironer 1O simply by turning the same toward the ironer 10 and onto the feeding ribbons ll. One of the main purposes of positioning the pile 1 on the rack as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 3 is to cause the damp uppermost piece to be easily separated under the feed ing action of the ironer from the underlying pieces and without disturbing the same. The purpose of the basket 29 is to keep the pile A clean an d free from dust. During the opera tion of the supporting members 20 and2l the connected end portions of the basket 29 will be wound on said members but there is at all times sufiicient slack therein so that the bottom of the basket will notcome in contact with the depending intermediate portion of the pile A and the wound portions of the basket 29 may be readily unwound after the load is removed from the rack.

For mechanically drawing flat pieces over the spreaders 30 er and depositing the same on the rack there is provided an endless earrier A6 whicln as shown, is in the form of a relatively wide belt arranged to run over wide front and rear pulleys l7 and 48, respectively. he shafts of the pulleys 47 and 48 are journaled in bearings on the upper ends of skeleton end frames 49. These end frames e9 are rigidly connected by a bridge structure 50 at their upper ends and above the shafts of said pulleys. An electric motor 51 mounted on the base of the rear end frame 49 is provided for driving the carrier 46 by means of a belt 52 in the direction of the arrow indicated in Fig. 1. The

belt 52 is arranged to run over a relatively small pulley 53 on the shaft of the motor 51 and a relatively large pulley 5% on the shaft of the pulley 48. end frames 49 is such as to permit the rack to be placed longitudinally therebetween with sunicient clearance for operating the hand cranks 26 and pedal 40 and with the carrier 46 working thereabove, see Fig. 1.

Spring closed clamps 55 are provided for attaching or securing flat pieces'to the carrier 46, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 8 by the letter B. These clamps 55 are mounted on the outer face of the carrier 46 in longitudinally spaced arrangement. For automatically opening the clamps 55 to receive the pieces l3 and thereafter open said clamps to release said pieces each of said clamps is provided with a cam finger 56 for cooperation with front and rear cam bars 57 and 58, respectively. The cam finger 56 projects from the opp side the carrier 46 to which the clamps are secured and at one edge thereof. The cam bar 57 is concentric with the pulley 47 and rigidly secured to the front The distance between the end frame 49 and the cam bar 58 is rigidly secured to the bridge structure 50 and located just forward of the pulley 48. Both cam bars 57 and 58 extend longitudinally in the path of travel of the cam fingers 56 and arranged when contacted by said fingers to open the clamps 55 and hold the same open until said fingers pass out of engagement with the cam bars 57 and 58.

The spreader 30 when mounted on the rack,- as shown by full lines in Fig. 1, is directly under the carrier 46, just rearward of the cam bar 57 and with its crown at the transverse center of' said carrier. As the clamps 55vare successively opened by the cam bar 57 the operator places one end of a piece at its transverse center in the open clamp 55 and thus holds the same until said clamp passes out of contact with the cam bar 57 and automatically closes on to the piece. Under the travel of the carrier 4C6 the piece is drawn over the main spreader 30 in the same manner as when operated by hand as previously described. The position of the cam bar 58 is such that when a piece passes out of engagement withthe auxiliary spreader 34': the clamp 55 hold ng the same engages the cam bar 58, is opened thereby to release the piece and allow'the same to drop on to the rack.

After the rack is loaded by the carrier 46 said carrier is wheeled from under the carrier l6 and to the ironer 10 where the pieces are fed thereto, as previously described.

What I claim is:

1. A device of the class described, having a narrow upright spreader over which aflat piece may be drawn to spread the same, and a rack forward of the spreader arranged to receive the piece as the same'is drawn there over from the spreader.

2. A device of the class described, having a'narrow upright spreader over which the intermediate portion of a flat piece may be drawn to spread the same with its side portions hanging down at the sides of the spreader, and a rack forward of the spreader arranged to receive the piece as the same is drawn thereover from the spreader and support the piece at its intermediate portion with its side portions hanging down at the sides of the rack.

3. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the spreader is intermediately crowned transversely 0f the rack.

4E. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the rack is below the spreader, and further having an auxiliary'spreader at an elevation between the main spreader and rack arranged to intercept the downward movement of the piece for action thereon as the same is drawn over the rack from the spreader.

5. The structure defined in claim 2 in which the spreader is mounted on the rack.

6. The structure defined in claim 2 fur ther having a pair of secondary sprea'ders at 7 ing a pair of secondary spreaders for :the

the sides of the rack, and means for operating the secondary Spreaders" for action on the hanging sides ofthe piece on the rack.

7. The structure defined in claim 2 having a pair of secondary spreaders for the hanging sides of the piece on the rack, said secondary spreader being mounted at the sides of the rack for outward movement therefrom;

8, The structure definedin claim 2 having a pair of secondary spreaders for the hanging sides ofthe piece on the rack, said secondary. spreader being mounted at the-sides of the rack for outward movement therefrom, and yielding means for holding the secondary spreaders in normal positionsk a 9. The structure defined in claim 2 havhanging sides of the piece on the rack, said secondary spreader belng. mounted at the sldes of the rack for outward movement'therefrom,

and means for simultanenously operating the secondary Spreaders. V

10. The structure'defined in claim 2 fur 'therhaving a pairof secondary Spreaders forthe hanging sides of the piece on the'rack, said secondary spreaders being mounted at the sides ofthe rack for outward and down termediate portion with its side portions hanging down at the sides of the frame, one

4 0f said rails being mounted on the frame for movement to lower the respective portion of the piece supportedthereon, and means for holding the movable rail raised.

12. The structure defined in claim 11in which the other of said rails is mounted onthe frame for movement to feed the respecand operable to alternately lower the respec- V tive portion of the flat piece supported there-o tive portion ofthe'flat piece. supported thereon in respect to said movable rail.

13. The structure "defined 1n claim 11 in which the other of said rails ismounted on the frame for raisingand lowering movement ononto'the frame and pick the same up at an Offset t0 feed the Same Said movable rail." r a.

14. A, rack of the class described compris ing a'frame having a pair of long horizontal upporting rails that are laterally spaced for"- V holding a fiat piecespre'ad ther on at itsintermediate portion with its side portions 1 hanging down at the sides of the frame, one

' of said railsbeingmovablymounted on the frame to feed the respective portionof the flat piecegsupported thereon in respect to the other-of saidirails. r V,

s 15. A ra'ckof the class described compriS-j ing a frame, a pair of horizontal supporting railsthat'are laterally spaced-for holding a portion with its side portions hangingdown at thesides of the-frame; saidrails having arms pivoted to the frame and holding the rails forlparallelz; movement toward or from each other, and neans for holding the arms with the rails raised..

16. Thestructure defined in claim 15in? which one of; the railsfis movable into a positi on to-lowerthe' respective portion ofthe flat piece supportedthereon onto theframe; 17-. The structureg defined in claim 15 in whichthe arms'ofione ofthe rails are piV'-'- oted for complete rotary; movement to carry the respective rail both. above and below; the;

top of the frame'and causesaid rail togalten' nately' lower theresp'ective portion of theflat piece supported thereon onto theframe and pick the same up at an ofiset point to feed said portion of the flat piece in respect to the other rail. Y

18. A rack of the'class describe comprising a a frame having apair of laterally spaced horizontal side bars, a pair of flat piece-supporting rails for holding a flat piece spread thereon at its intermediate portion with its side portions hanging down at the side of the frame, said rails having arms pivoted at the axes of the bars and swingably support-' ing said rails, and means for holding the arms with the rails in their uppermost pos'itions. I V r 19. The structure defined in claim 18 inwhich the bars are at different elevations and a i 1 ferent length and, hold the tworails, when-f V I in which the arms of the two railsare of difraised, at substantially the same elevation.

20. Adevice of the class described com prising a crowned spreader over which a flat piece maybe drawn longitudinally with the transverse center of said piece at the apex ofthespreader and with the side portions of said piece hanging down from the outer ends of the spreader, the outer end portionsof the spreader being unobstructed and-below the crownthereof. I Y

' 21. A device of the class described comprising a crowned mainspreader and an auxiliary spreader spaced the one in advance Y ofthe other and'over which spreaders a fiat pieceimay be drawn longitudinally with the 1 j transverse center of saidpiece' at the apex of the main spreader and with the side por-o tions of said piece hanging down from the, 1

7 end portions of themain spreader being un- T 1' outer, ends of the main spreader,the outer obstructed and below thecrown thereof.

22. The structure definedlin claim 21 in are at different ele-" I n we 7 7 13 01, 3

which the two spreaders vations. is o 7'0 flat piece spread thereonat its-interlilediate 23. A device of the class described comprising a spreader over which a fiat piece may be drawn longitudinally to spread the same,

v and a rack forward of the spreader and over which the piece is drawn from the spreader and onto which rack the piece is free to drop as it leaves the spreader. l

24:. A device of the class described comprising a main spreader and an auxiliary spreader spaced the one in advance of the other and over which a flat piece may be drawn longitudinally tospread the same, and a rack forward of the Spreaders and over which the piece is drawn from the spreaders 5 and onto which rack the piece is free to drop as it leaves the Spreaders.

25. The structure defined in claim 24: which further includes a pair of reversely movable secondary spreaders for transversely spreading a fiat piece while on the rack.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

LEE R. SAGER; 

